


The Perfect Pawn

by johnmykawaiiwaifu



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-03
Updated: 2013-02-03
Packaged: 2017-11-23 11:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/621510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnmykawaiiwaifu/pseuds/johnmykawaiiwaifu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young woman's mind can be compared to a charming sweater. It can be pretty at first sight, comfortable and simple, but a single thread can unravel the entire thing into a mess and mere memory of the glory it used to be.  And one painfully normal night Rose Lalonde can feel the cold fingers of fate tugging at that first string.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Watching your step

**Author's Note:**

> POV: Rose

It was a peaceful day, the sun sinking lower and lower into the sky, quiet falling over most streets as the delinquents and rebels finally decided to head home, the subway cars and buses gradually growing more empty and the streets shifting from a dull blue to an intense black to a bitter yellow as the street lamps flickered on. The warm yellows and oranges of electric light shone through curtains and mostly everyone was enjoying a quiet family dinner. Rose Lalonde was strolling slowly along the street, a sour wind picking up and playing with the pink scarf wrapped around her neck before giving up and dropping it with a sigh. Even the forces of nature couldn’t make Rose Lalonde smile. 

“Eight twenty two on the dot.” She muttered, readjusting one of her leather gloves and pushing a stray stand of hair out of her eyes. “Nearing the intersection of Finch and 24th. All is quiet.” Her eyelids flickered shut briefly and she pictured the streets from a birds eye view, muttering a little bit more. This was Vriska’s neighborhood. She looked up, scanning down the line of houses. “Serket residence, number eight.” A soft rustling came from behind her and she twitched slightly, turning her head slowly to see it was nothing more than a squirrel. Suddenly something clicked in her mind and her eyes lit up a little. This was the day all the girls were having a slumber party of some sort. Alost every girl in school had waited for an invitation, Rose included, but only five had received one. 

“Aradia, Nepeta, Feferi, Terezi and…” Rose felt a finger of wind press firmly against the back of her neck and she shivered. “Kanaya.” She finished bitterly. Without fully realizing it she had stopped outside Vriska’s house, looking at the yellow light streaming through the blue curtains on the top floor. She could hear an occasional shriek or giggle, followed by a few seconds of silence. The shadows thrown across the curtain were sitting down, shaking with laughter until one of them stood up and had a few seconds of rapid movement. She couldn’t seem to puzzle out what they were doing until one shadow stood up and pulled their shirt off, followed by a chorus of giggles. 

“Oh.” She said flatly, readjusting her scarf. “Truth or dare.” She shook her blonde hair gently, resuming her walk without a moment of hesitation. She’d never played such a game herself. In fact, she thought it was a ridiculous notion to sit around and just have people tell you their secrets. She found it much more fun to puzzle them out herself. 

She reached the bright intersection, cars whizzing past her and honking angrily at the pretty blonde girl in the black coat and pink scarf, just for looking at them funny. She shook her head once more and pretended to readjust her glove again as another car zoomed by before she took a step out onto the road. A pick up truck whizzed past, nearly clipping her and she stepped back onto the sidewalk, a hand to her breast. She’d almost gotten hit. 

“Hey.” A quiet voice called from behind her and she whirled around, the bright lights and her fight or flight instincts putting her into a sort of daze. She focused on a dark figure under a streetlight, straightening up and scanning the street for a break in traffic. She’d seen this young man around school campus. He was the opposite of good news. 

“Little lady, I said hey. It’s only polite to respond.”  
“Please don’t speak to me.” She said firmly, staring across the road, pretending the man wasn’t there. “I’m not associated with you.” 

“Want to be?” He hissed, stepping more into the light so she could see him. He had long, black hair, matted and greasy, a few leaves intertwined with the strands. He wore a tattered black shirt bearing an unrecognizable bang logo on it and some incredibly distressed jeans. He clutched a bottle of orange pop in his hand but even from a few yards away Rose could smell the stench of liquor on him, and she took a step back as he lifted his face to the light, throwing sloppily applied white face paint across his cheeks, jaw and forehead into sharp relief. 

“Stay away from me.” She said, her voice shaking a little. Rose couldn’t remember when she had last been so afraid. 

“The name’s Gamzee.” The young man said, a grin spreading across his face. It occurred to Rose he might have been quite handsome if he hadn’t let himself go. “Gamzee Makara.” He continued, taking another step forwards. “Nice to meet you.” He stuck out a hand and it grazed Rose’s breast, causing her to let out a small shriek and take another step away from Gamzee, her heel reaching the edge of the sidewalk. “Now little lady…” He said quietly, grabbing her wrist. She gasped, not sure if she should be more afraid of the man or the cars behind her. She glanced over Gamzee’s shoulder to where Vriska’s house was, bright and yellow and cheery. 

“Help me.” She croaked, not daring to look around for a pedestrian for fear of taking her eyes off the man. His grip on her wrist tightened and she gasped in pain. 

“C’mon, you’re just a girl now.” Gamzee said softly, letting the pop bottle fall from his hand and roll across the sidewalk. “I can make you a woman.” 

“No… no thank you. Could you please-” Rose began but she stopped as he slipped his free hand around her waist, pulling her in closer. She gasped and jerked her head backwards, trying to pull away from the man but he held her tight, his ice cold hand snaking up her back and fingering her bra strap, struggling to release it. Rose felt a scream rising in her throat, all caution and common sense gone, whipping her head back and forth, looking for the silhouette of another person. Gamzee began to mutter under his breath, and Rose realized he must be too intoxicated to understand her bra strap. She began to struggle harder and his grip loosened a little, only to return twice as tight as before. 

“Now little lady, we can get along. This is not how I wanted this to go.” He whispered, bringing her face very close to his until she gagged on the stench of his breath. He returned to her bra strap, puzzling over it. This time Rose did scream and brought her knee up, hard, landing in Gamzee’s crotch and sending him reeling backwards with a moan, his heel crushing the pop bottle. She took a step backwards, her face splitting into a rare triumphant grin. 

“I can guess how you wanted this evening to go, sir, and this is much better!” She exclaimed, holding up a hand and opening her mouth to make another witty remark when a sudden noise ripped through the night, surrounding Rose and causing her hands to fly to her ears in confusion. Was that a… car horn? 

And then something large and shiny loomed out of the darkness and hit Rose, sending her skittering across the pavement. She felt the sudden overwhelming stinging of many cuts and bruises and an incredible, numbing pain in her hip. Her eyes focused on a vaguely familiar silhouette hovering on the edge of the sidewalk and a small smile played across her dry lips. She closed her eyes, just for a moment against the harsh lights around her and she found her thoughts drifting away from the shouting around her and to Vriska’s place. She wondered if they were still having fun.


	2. Jekyll and Hyde

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV: Kanaya

“Oh come on Kanaya, you’ve got to do it.” Vriska said, her voice taking on an annoying whine. “It’s truth or dare, for God’s sake. The whole point is that you carry out the dare!” 

Kanaya looked around her, trying to shut Vriska out. The room was so hot and stuffy; she could barely find the space to breathe. Aradia was lounging on Vriska’s bed, her skimpy red nightshirt riding up around her thighs, revealing her (rather shocking) panties. Nepeta was predictably bouncy, a bottle full of ADHD medication just waiting to be taken shaking in her hyperactive hands. Feferi was staring dreamily at a piece of paper with a few quick sketches on it, signed at the bottom by a certain Mr. Ampora. Her royal pink nightgown flowed around her ankles, making a pleasant swish whenever she decided to move. And then Terezi and Vriska, the ring leaders of a sort were sitting upright on the bed, in nothing but bras and panties, laughing and enforcing the game of truth or dare. It suddenly occurred to Kanaya that no one but those two seemed to be having much fun. 

“Earth to Kanaya, hello.” Vriska sneered. “You chose dare, so shake on you’ll do it.” She stuck out a perfectly manicured hand, but Kanaya hesitated. It was true that in a moment of weakness she had chosen dare, perhaps a vain attempt to liven up the party, but she had not expected it to be, of all things, ask out Rose. She shuddered a little. Rose and her… they had a shaky past. 

“Actually, if it’s alright with you, I think I need some fresh air.” Kanaya said simply, sanding up and looking at the girls all around her. She was the only one not in her sleep wear, instead sticking with a sensible, if still fashionable, tee shirt and pencil skirt over some black leggings. It wasn’t her best look, but it would do. 

“Hey, you can’t just leave, you-” Vriska began to protest, but she was cut off as Kanaya stood up and, instead of heading towards the door to the hallway, stepped out onto the balcony, closing the sliding glass door behind her and shooting a look over her shoulder. Kanaya sighed as the happy babbling of girls restarted behind her, and she lifted herself up onto the stone railing, eyeing a nearby tree. She’d never tried something like this before, in fact, if she wasn’t having such a terrible time, she might have regarded it as a completely foolish notion and went back inside. But the branch looked thick enough to support someone of Kanaya’s weight… 

Her bare feet touched the cool grass below in a matter of minutes, not even a scratch or a chipped nail to show she’d been up to anything unusual. Kanaya shivered, gingerly rubbing her arms and contemplating going back inside for her jacket before she shook her head and began to walk, feeling the damp grass between her toes. She could see the bright lights of the street ahead and a dark silhouette walking away from her at a brisk pace. She watched it curiously as it stepped out onto the road, only to jump back as a car whizzed by. She was tempted to laugh, but held it down, continuing her casual stroll as the wind played with her hair. 

“Excuse me.” Someone mumbled as the stepped around her and she nodded back to them, slowing her pace to let them get farther ahead. It was a rather handsome young man with long hair and a rebellious look about him. He was taking sips from a bottle of popular orange soda and flashed her a pearly white smile. Kanaya had seen him around campus before, and most people thought he was a dropout. But Kanaya was pretty sure he was home schooled and had spent more than one lunch hour just… observing him. He was always intensely focused on something or other, perhaps a difficult crossword or other puzzle, and by the time he stood up and left Kanaya was sure he had completely finished, triple checked his work and gotten every single thing right. She felt bad for him sometimes, she was sure he was very bright. 

She stopped and glanced over her shoulder, unsure of if she’d had enough fresh air to tolerate the rest of the night with the other five girls. A strangled scream from ahead brought her attention back to the young man, a few yards away, crouched on the ground and moaning. His pop bottle fell from his hands and Kanaya took a step forward to help him, but suddenly he grabbed the bottle and stood up, absolutely fine. She paused as he took a step, let out a scream and took another confident step. 

“Excuse me…” Kanaya trailed off as the man’s head whipped around and looked at her, his eyes flickering from a brilliant purple to a dull blue. 

“I’m… fried. Fine! I’m fine. Goddamn it Ter stop poking me I’m doing the best I- Whoops. I’m fine really, sorry, I’ll be going now.” The man said hurriedly, beginning to jog away. Suddenly, in a violent burst of laughter, he veered off into some bushes and hobbled back out, leaves in his hair and his clothing freshly ripped. 

Kanaya began to back away, suddenly afraid of the young man, but his sights were set on something else, something closer to the road, a young girl in a pink scarf and black jacket. A very… familiar young girl. 

“No.” Kanaya whispered, taking a few hurried steps forward. “Not Rose.” 

The young man suddenly turned around, a wicked grin spread across his face. “You stay out of the way, little lady, and I promise you won’t get hurt.” 

Kanaya just shook her head, backing up a little more and opening her mouth to call to Rose. But before the sound could escape her lips the man had pushed her to the ground, the breath knocked out of her, helpless as he walked up to Rose and began harassing her. She could feel the wetness in the grass seeping through her clothing as she gasped for air and clutched at her elbow. She probed at it gently; dismayed to see it might be dislocated. She saw Rose begin to struggle and Kanaya tried to stand up, her legs shaking beneath her. She was so bloody scared. 

“Kanaya!” She heard Vriska’s voice call from the house behind her. “Kanaya get your ass back up here!” 

Kanaya hesitated, watching Rose as she struggled even harder to release herself. Kanaya took a step forwards, then another, Vriska’s echoing shouts like a noose around her neck, making each step more difficult, each step causing her throat to close a little. And then Rose broke free with a triumphant shout and backed onto the road, grinning. Kanaya almost let out a whoop of joy, feeling a grin spread across her own face. 

And then she spotted the truck, heading straight towards Rose. Her whoop quickly turned into a strangled scream, covered by the blaring of the truck’s horn. Even from where she was standing she could tell the driver didn’t even attempt to apply the break. It was as if everything was in slow motion and she found herself at the edge of the sidewalk after what felt like ages, Rose lying in the middle of the road, a bruised and bloody wreck of what she was mere moments before. She could have sworn the light purple eyes focused on her before closing. 

“Rose…” Kanaya gasped, and her green eyes flickered from the unconscious Rose to the immobile body of Gamzee lying on the sidewalk next to her to the truck driver, still sitting in his seat, peering out as if nothing unusual had happened. And Kanaya felt an incredible anger bubble up inside her, and she found herself strutting across the road, the gravel digging into the soles of her feet until she was right next to the truck, stepping up to the door, pulling it open and grabbing the collar of the man inside. 

“You just hit a girl.” She growled, a sharp finer nail digging into the young man’s pale nose. “Get the hell out of your truck and do something about it.” 

“Or what?” He asked coolly, a smile playing across his face. Kanaya hated everything about him, from the lightly ruffled blonde hair to the shades to the stained black jeans he was wearing. The young man seemed to be waiting for a response, and her grip on his collar tightened, her knuckles turning white. Without a moment of hesitation she yanked her hand backwards, pulling the man out of his truck and onto the pavement with a yell. She flung him to the ground and he held up his hands in a weak form of defense, whimpering as he groped for his shades on the ground. 

“You’re lucky I have better things to deal with.” Kanaya spat. “What’s your name?” 

“Dirk.” The man said, finding his shades and sliding them back on, all emotion gone. “Dirk Strider. And look, I’m sorry I hit your little friend, but-” He stopped, probably spotting the unimpressed expression etched across Kanaya’s face. With a sigh he stood up and a brief expression of guilt flickered across his features. “Sorry. I’ll stay here until the ambulance arrives. I’ll even sit with the girl in the hospital until she’s better, I swear.” 

Kanaya held out her hand, scowling. “Shake on it.” She said simply, the vague irony of those words bouncing around in her head. “Shake on it!” She insisted, and Dirk stuck out his sweaty hand, firmly shaking hers. 

“Fine, whatever, don’t get your knickers in a twist.” He mumbled, staring at Rose as the distant wail of an ambulance grew louder. “I’ll help her out. Least I can do, really.” 

“Alright.” Kanaya said, her tone implying that the least wasn’t nearly good enough. “Her name is Rose Lalonde, and she might be a little hard to deal with. Good luck.” She nodded, a rare smile flickering across her face. “And she’d better not die on me.” 

“Aye aye, captain.” Dirk saluted her and walked over to Rose, crouching over and stroking her blonde hair as the ambulance pulled up next to him. Kanaya turned away and starting walking back to Vriska’s house, feeling as if that conversation went a lot better than it could have. She was almost in the shadows of the street again when a whimpering came from behind her and she slowly turned around, an icy hand closing around her ankle. 

“Help me.” The young man who had been harassing Rose pleaded. Kanaya tried to shake him off but stopped when she saw that he did seem to be in need of held. There was foam at the corners of his mouth and his eyes had faded to a dirty white. She shouted for the paramedics to come and pick him up and shook her ankle free, any form of pity for him washed away by his previous actions. She paused at the threshold of Vriska’s house, thinking. It wasn’t normal for someone to undergo such a… Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde transformation. She shook her head and stepped inside, allowing the house to warm her up and all the thoughts drained from her mind as she saw Vriska, Terezi, Aradia, Nepeta and Feferi waiting for her, arms crossed. 

“And where have you been?” Vriska asked, her pearly white teeth fixed into a malicious grin. “Actually, who cares, we’re going to make you hurt… so… bad…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not totally sure where this is going, and I'm not even sure if it's any good. But if you've gotten this far, it must be alright.


	3. Rosie-girl

Rose woke up to a bright white light and she gasped, sitting up so suddenly, the blaring of the truck’s horn still fresh in her ears. But a cool hand pressed on her shoulder, pushing her gently into the pillows where she lay, quietly whimpering, realizing the sound wasn’t the blaring of a horn but the monitor keeping in time with the beating of her own heart. She twisted her head to see a pale, blonde boy, a pair of angular shades in his hand, rubbing his temples. He looked incredibly tired. The young man slid the shades back on, letting out a sigh and looking at Rose.

“Hey Rosie-girl.” He said quietly. “My name is Dirk, and I’m here to take care of you.”

When Rose next woke up it took her a moment to grasp where she was. She worked slowly and methodically, like she always did, piecing things together. She was hit by a truck. She couldn’t remember the pain, only the noise. She had woken up in a hospital what seemed like seconds ago. Pale blonde boy. Dick- was his name Dick? She wasn’t sure, which was odd. Usually Rose knew these things. And then… well, Rose assumed she’d fallen asleep again.

“Rosie?” The young man’s voice called. She frowned, trying to decipher his mood. He seemed upset. Incredibly stressed, with an undertone of boredom. She decided to be kind to him.

“Rose, if you please.” She replied, her voice wavering a little. “I’m rather thirsty, and I regret that your name has slipped my mind. Care to repeat?”

“Whoa little lady, I speak English.” The man replied, chuckling. He had a rusty laugh, the kind that wasn’t used very often. “I’m Dirk. Dirk Strider. They say your last name’s Lalonde. Is that true?”

“Yes.” Rose said, her throat still aching. “Is there any water around?”

“Yeah, yeah, in a second. I’ve got a friend. Roxy Lalonde, almost your opposite, in fact. She’s a real spunky gal, probably has a thing for me but-”

“Excuse me, Mr. Strider, but my throat is in a considerable amount of pain. I don’t mean to be rude.” Rose interrupted. She paused for a moment, waiting for a response. “Please.” She added.

“Oh.” Dirk said after a short pause. “Of course, I’m sorry.” Rose listened to the soothing sound of water being poured into a Styrofoam cup before she forced herself to sit up. She was slow and unsteady but she managed to achieve an upright position, holding out her hands for the water like a child would for a bottle. She saw Dirk’s blonde eyebrows rise in surprise before he handed over the cup.

“Impressive.” He said, and there was indeed a genuine undertone of admiration. “You won’t be here long at all!” He sat back in his chair and watched Rose delicately sip her water. He seemed to be muttering to himself, and Rose could barely make out… Calculations? He was doing math?

“Man, I don’t even know how much my truck must have weighed! And I’ll be damned if I wasn’t over the speed limit. You’re made of tough stuff, Rosie-girl!”

“Excuse me?” Rose asked, putting down the cup of water. She felt an uncomfortable throbbing in her temples and she shook her head. “Your truck? What do you have o do with anything? Aren’t you a nurse or-” Rose stopped, staring wide-eyed at Dirk. “Did you hit me?”

Dirk froze. “Well…”

“Did you? Yes or no, I need to know.”

“Yes, okay, but you little friend came up and-”

“You did?” Rose screamed, almost jumping up from her bed. “You hit me? And they let you in here? What the-” She trailed off suddenly, her brow knitting together in deep concentration. “What friend?”

“I don’t know. She had short black hair, looked pretty stylish?”

“Anything else?” Dirk thought for a moment.

“She spoke very clearly. Oh, and she was unnaturally strong. Threw me right to the ground! She got really upset over you being hit, must be a really good pal.”

“Did she tell you her name?” Rose asked, her voice suddenly colder than ice. Dirk flinched a little; glad her gaze was fixed on the wall in front of her instead of him.

“No, sorry.” He said quietly.

“Well I believe her name is Kanaya, and she’s no friend of mine.” Rose said simply, lying back down and turning away from Dirk. “Please don’t speak to her again.”

“Whatever you say.” Dirk whispered, pulling out a piece of paper and scribbling something on it with a pen, using his thigh as a writing surface. He tucked the pen away and stared at his messy writing.

_Kanaya._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahahaha I'm probably never going to finish this

**Author's Note:**

> First fanfiction with a bit of promise in a long time, hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
